


Through Time

by houdini74



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Committed Relationship, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-16 15:06:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18693916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/houdini74/pseuds/houdini74
Summary: All that mattered was finding out when he was and figuring out how he could get back to David.OrEverything is the same except Patrick can travel through time.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, the timeline for the show is extremely messed up. For example, we know that David’s birthday is July 2, which would place the barbeque (four months later) at the beginning of November. Not only is it clearly not November, but in the Olive Branch, Stevie accuses David of wearing a leather sweater in the height of summer. To make this work, I laid out all the events of the show in relation to each other, but didn’t worry about the exact time of year. It’s probably best not to think about that too closely.

He awoke the same way he usually did, disoriented and confused. But this time the confusion was laced with panic. He had to get back to David.

He sat up and looked around. The studio apartment was familiar, simply furnished with pieces from IKEA. He pushed back the grey comforter and swung his legs around so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Vancouver, he thought with a groan, putting his head in his hands.

He’d lived here a couple of years ago during one of his many breaks with Rachel. He’d spent the year working as a junior accountant for a tech company and he’d hated every minute of it. But none of that mattered. All that mattered was finding out when he was and figuring out how he could get back to David.

The when, at least, was relatively easy. A small saving grace of his ability to time travel was that anything he had on him came along for the ride. He pulled his phone from his pocket, smiling a little at the memory of how David had teased him for keeping it so close. The smile quickly turned to a grimace as he worried that memories of David might be all he would be left with.

He looked at the date on his phone: June 22. Eighteen months earlier than when he’d last been with David. Eighteen months earlier and a completely different city from the moment when David had first told him that he loved him.

An uncomfortable lump in his pocket reminded him of the other thing that had traveled with him. That always traveled with him. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out the offending object and the set of keys it was attached to. He was always surprised at how heavy it was. Even though his grandfather had told him that it was made from solid gold, the weight of it always seemed to increase when he held it in his hand. 

He looked at it ruefully. It was smaller than a ping pong ball, and the inner gold sphere was etched like a globe, the continents and oceans of the world shimmered in the light. The sphere was surrounded by a pair of gold bands that encased the globe and let all three parts spin freely. The bands looked like they should simply slip from the sphere, but his previous attempts to free them had been fruitless. A simple circular hook emerged from where the North Pole would be that allowed him to clip it to his key ring.

It had been his 25th birthday when his grandfather had pulled him aside from the rest of his family and pressed the sphere into his hands. “You’re my only grandson,” he’d said, “It’s right that you should have this. It will take you on many adventures.”

His grandfather had died unexpectedly two days later without telling him anything more about the sphere. A week after that, he’d been playing with it one night when he’d been pulled back in time for the first time. 

It had happened without warning. One minute he’d been in the apartment he shared with Rachel examining the sphere, the next thing he knew, he was waking up groggily in his childhood bedroom. 

That first jump had been less than 24 hours back in time. He’d had the good sense to not go back to his apartment and had instead spent the day pacing around the park, trying to figure out what had happened. When he finally went home late that evening, Rachel had been furious that he’d left so suddenly without telling her.

Ever since that night, his life had been shaped by his ability to travel through time.

***

The first time he’d woken up in the room at Ray’s, he’d been relieved. Things with Rachel had been going badly and he’d been desperate for a change. He’d pulled the sphere out of his pocket, hoping against hope that it would send him somewhere, anywhere, away from the life he had come to hate.

The hardest part of waking up in an unfamiliar place always was figuring out where he was expected to be and what he was expected to do. Fortunately, having Ray as his landlord made the transition easier than it had ever been. He’d been lying in bed, staring at the fantastically ugly wallpaper for the first time when the door burst open.

“Patrick!” the strange man exclaimed. “I’m making pancakes, would you like breakfast before you head to the store?”

“Um…” he replied, still processing the unexpected arrival into his bedroom. At least he now knew that there was a store that he was expected to be at.

“I could make extra for David, but I don’t know how well they’d travel and we both know how particular your boyfriend is about his breakfasts!” This was apparently quite funny and the man laughed jovially. But Patrick was distracted by a different part of his statement. He had a boyfriend? That was new. And yet, he felt something inside him slide into place for the first time. It felt right.

He eventually figured out the name of the store and managed to make his way there in time to open for the day. Ray was delightfully oblivious to any strange questions or odd behaviours that Patrick might have and he provided Patrick with an onslaught of information about the town and its inhabitants, including the boyfriend that Patrick had yet to meet.

He made his way through town and found the store. Rose Apothecary. He grinned to himself, the name was far too pretentious for its surroundings. The building stood out, but in a good way, the store wouldn’t have been out of place in any upscale neighbourhood. In Schitt’s Creek, however, it looked like it had been transported from another place. Kind of like himself, he thought.

He was happy to find the store dark and quiet. It would be easier to pretend that he belonged here if he had a few minutes to orient himself before his business partner arrived. Business partner and boyfriend, a voice inside reminded him. David Rose. He rolled the name around in his mind. With a bit of nudging, Ray had talked freely about the Rose family’s attempts to rebuild their lives in the town but despite Ray’s general chattiness, he got the impression there was something that he wasn’t saying. He would find out soon enough, he was sure.

It took him a minute to find the lights and get the computer and cash register started. He held his breath as he tried his usual password on the laptop, grinning when it logged him in. A set of inventory sheets sat on the front counter. Happy to have a familiar task, he was flipping through them when the bell over the door rang and a tall, dark haired man came in and pressed himself against the door. 

He was wearing a ridiculously baggy grey sweatshirt that almost resembled a small tent and was carrying a black carryall bag. “Oh hi,” the man said in a husky voice.

“Hi,” he replied. Undoubtedly, this had to be David Rose. He glanced quickly down at the inventory sheets, hoping to hide his smile. He had never seen anyone like this before.

As David leaned suggestively on the counter and made a number of comments about the sexiness of the inventory process, he found he was completely confused. David was undeniably attractive and already he could feel a spark between them. At the same time, David was acting very, very strangely. Was he always like this, he wondered?

As David came around the counter and pulled him into his arms, he felt a sudden frisson of tension and excitement. One of the more challenging parts of jumping back and forth through your own life was having to deal blindly with the actions of his past self. Without warning, he was in the middle of new relationship with someone he had just met and he was about to kiss another man for the first time.

The kiss was...awkward. David seemed to be trying too hard and Patrick was still struggling to adjust to his new reality to do much more than return the kiss of a man who was still a stranger to him. And yet, he wanted more. He wanted to act on the attraction that was suddenly humming in his veins. He was surprised at how quickly he’d responded to David. There had been occasions in the past where he’d found himself in the middle of something new with a girl other than Rachel and it had immediately fallen apart because he couldn’t adjust quickly enough. But this was different. It felt both comfortable and new all at the same time. 

The rest of the morning passed relatively smoothly. Patrick busied himself with the inventory, taking comfort in the familiar process. David’s earlier intensity had decreased a little but Patrick could feel the magnetic pull of him whenever they were in the same room. 

It was mid-morning when David suggested they take a break. “I’m going to the cafe, do you want your usual?”

“Sure, what are you having?” He knew instantly that he’d made a mistake. David hadn’t struck him as the type of person to stick to a routine, but clearly he had a regular coffee order that he should have known about. He attempted to cover. “In addition to the coffee, I mean.”

“Hmm, depends on how creative Twyla’s been with the baking. Are you okay?” David asked. “You seem distracted.”

“Just trying to figure out how to finish the inventory,” he replied. “Especially since someone decided we should take the afternoon off to go to the park.”

David shrugged, but Patrick could tell he enjoyed the teasing. He felt a tiny tremor go through him as David left for the cafe. He moved out from behind the counter, suddenly needing to move, even if it was just to walk around the main room of the store. The products were artfully arranged, something he assumed was due to David’s influence. He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension that was building. 

He had wanted something different and this definitely fit that description. Now that David had left the store, his head felt clearer, as though by simply being in the room, David had removed all of the oxygen. He’d never met anyone like David Rose but he already knew that he wanted to spend time with him and get to know him. And to kiss him again, a little voice whispered. Never in his life had he been drawn to anyone like this.

David returned with their drinks, a small electric shock passed through Patrick when David’s fingers brushed his as he handed over the cup. 

“We’ll probably need an alternative plan for lunch,” David was saying. “The special is mushroom soup and Twyla is handing it out in plastic bags!” He gestured wildly, a horrified grimace on his face.

“Is she giving out straws too?” Based on what he’d heard so far, Patrick couldn’t wait to actually see the cafe in person.

“Yes!”

***

That evening Patrick got his wish to see the inside of the cafe. He couldn’t contain a laugh when he unfolded the unnecessarily large menu. Across the table, David looked at him strangely. 

“I was just remembering the first time I saw these menus,” he said. It was clearly the right thing to say. David’s smile softened and he reached across the table to touch Patrick’s hand.

“So you’re not mad about today, then?” he asked, looking away from Patrick’s eyes. Patrick thought about the afternoon. David’s ridiculousness, which he was coming to suspect was pretty standard behaviour and which he found weirdly endearing. David’s declaration about their relationship, which he suspected was unusual and even though he’d been in the relationship for less than a day, it had still made his heart skip. And of course, David kissing him for the second time, 30 feet in the air. He’d been glad of the safety harness because his knees had buckled slightly when David’s lips touched his.

“I’m not mad,” he said. “But David, you need to spend less time talking to your sister about our relationship and more time talking to me.” It seemed liked a safe thing to say. He didn’t quite understand the dynamics of David’s relationship with his sister yet, but he knew that having a third person’s opinion in their relationship wasn’t going to make anything better.

David rolled his eyes and gave the half-grimace that Patrick was coming to learn meant he was embarrassed about something that he knew Patrick was right about.

Dinner was uninspiring, but it didn’t matter because he was captivated by David. They ordered dessert and David finished his chocolate cake quickly before reaching over with his fork to steal a bite of Patrick’s apple pie. He pushed the pie closer to David, wanting to share a small thing that brought him joy. David had spent most of the meal discussing his plans for future suppliers to bring into the store. Patrick watched his dark eyes flash and his hands wave over the table as he got excited and he wanted to spend the rest of his life here in this booth.

Reality washed over him. Even if he stayed as long as possible he would only have a matter of months before he was pulled back in time, not knowing if he would ever be able to find his way back here. When he’d first gotten the sphere, it had been an adventure. Every jump meant a new place or returning to an familiar place. And as things had progressed in his relationship with Rachel, any change had been better than the stagnated place that they always seemed to end up in. But he already knew that this was different. He wanted to hold on to this, to explore, to find out what might be possible with David Rose.

But he knew what would happen. Either he would accidentally trigger the device or the internal timer that he didn’t understand would run out and he would be headed back in time. 

They left the cafe, lingering for a moment on the sidewalk. Patrick suddenly felt awkward, unsure of David’s expectations. Before he could say anything, David stepped close and placed his arms around his neck. Without thinking, he slipped his arms around David’s waist. It felt completely natural. It felt right.

David was taller than he was. For the first time in his life, he had to reach up to meet someone’s lips for a kiss. A thrill went through him as David kissed him. It was gentle at first and he leaned into it, eager to explore the feel of David’s lips, the brush of stubble against his cheek. He felt David nip gently at his bottom lip and he parted his lips to let David deepen their kiss. They broke apart and David brought his hand up to cup the back of Patrick’s head.

“That felt...that felt like when we first started dating,” David sounded both surprised and turned on. “Where have you been hiding these ‘this is my first time’ moves?”

“Yeah? You like that?” He decided to bluff his way through. “Maybe there’ll be more where that came from if you help me finish the inventory tomorrow.”

David pushed him away in frustration, before pulling him close and kissing him again. It was familiar this time, a kiss that Patrick could tell had happened a hundred times before, filled with love and comfort and home. He closed his eyes and kissed David back. 

“Goodnight, David,” he said.

“Goodnight, Patrick.” Before Patrick could adjust, David was gone, his dark clothing fading into the night.

***

The clock was ticking. He looked at David sleeping beside him and knew he was probably living on borrowed time. It had been two and a half months since he’d awoken in this bed. Two and a half months since he’d met David and come to love him. One way or another, he was running out of time.

He knew suddenly that he needed to find an apartment. Having a place where he and David could be together, but also a space that was his, that could maybe be an anchor through time and space, that might draw him back to this place, back to David. 

A place where his landlord didn’t burst into the room every morning would also be an improvement, he thought. Although in truth, Ray had been a godsend these first few months. His natural verbosity, combined with a certain obliviousness, had allowed Patrick to mine him for information about his past life and the town itself. 

Ray seemed delighted to help Patrick find a place of his own. David was another story. He was clearly on edge as they looked at the first apartment, making negative comments about the closet space and overall layout. It wasn’t until David confessed that he thought they’d be moving in together that Patrick realized his mistake.

He’d forgotten. Or maybe not forgotten, but become complacent. Arriving in the midst of an established relationship had been like a whirlwind where he’d moved from a first kiss to a comfortable routine in a matter of days. And yet, it was still so very new for him, he felt like his brain was struggling to catch up to his heart. But he’d overlooked the fact that this wasn’t as new for David. For David, moving in together was probably the logical next step. 

After Ray had left, handing over the keys on his way out the door, Patrick sat beside David on the window seat. He pulled the keys apart and handed one to David. 

“I want you to be able to come over whenever you want,” he said softly.

David wrapped his fingers around the key and looked away, his eyes bright. “No one has ever given me a key to their place before.”

He wondered about the people who had hurt David in the past as he wrapped his arms around David’s shoulders and kissed him on the cheek. “Their loss,” he said firmly.

Moving into the apartment, he felt like he was sprinting towards a finish line that he couldn’t see. It had been three months now and he went to sleep every night anxious that he would wake up in a different bed, pulled back in time to a different part of his life. He knew that this time he would have to go backwards. He’d jumped forward to end up here, in Schitt’s Creek, so the next jump would be back, into his old life. After having the past three months with David, he prayed he wouldn’t find himself back with Rachel, the shock of that transition would be too much.

He’d thought about trying to trigger the device himself, to have some control over when he left this timeline, but he’d never been able to make it work properly and he wanted to spend every second he could with David. 

David insisted on putting the final touches on his decorating and had arrived one evening with a couple of boxes. He set them on the coffee table and began to unpack them.

He watched, amused, as David pulled a selection of potted cacti from one of the boxes. “Really?” he said.

“You need an accent color for all this grey,” David said. “Plus, houseplants give a home a lived-in feel.”

“Doesn’t the fact that I live here give this place a lived-in feel?”

David huffed at him, pretending to be annoyed. A selection of candles followed the cacti and David arranged them carefully in the fireplace.

“Won’t that make the fireplace hard to use?” he asked.

David stared at him, a look of shock on his face. “Ew, you weren’t actually planning on lighting a fire in there, were you? I can’t have my clothes exposed to wood smoke, it lingers and I’d never get it out.”

“So sex in front of the fire is out then?” he said provocatively, moving to stand in front of David, sliding his arms around his waist.

“Sex by candlelight is much better,” David responded, kissing him softly. “Trust me, you’ll love it.”

“I have one more thing for you,” David said as they broke away from the kiss. “Close your eyes.”

He felt David place a rectangular object in his hands. He opened his eyes to find a framed poster for something called ‘Open Mic Night’ at the store. For a brief second, he panicked. Whatever this was, it was obviously important to both of them. He’d learned that David wasn’t one to give gifts, so for him to save and then frame this flyer meant it had to be significant. He took a breath and looked at David. He could tell he was worried about how his gift would be received.

“It’s perfect,” he said quietly. “Thank you, David.” David gave him the half-grimace that meant he was touched by Patrick’s response. He reached forward to kiss David again, hoping to avoid any conversation about David’s gift. Abruptly, he wanted more, he wanted everything David could give him. He pushed David towards the bed, driven by the need to make the most of every moment they had together. 

Later, as he drifted to sleep, he realized that he felt something he’d never felt before. For the first time in his life, he was completely and utterly happy.

The next morning, he awoke to see Derek Jeter smiling down at him.


	2. Chapter 2

He looked at the poster of Derek Jeter that was still hanging beside his childhood bed. How did I ever think I was straight, he thought.

He sighed. At least he wasn’t back with Rachel. 

He reached into the pocket of his pajamas and pulled out his phone and the sphere. The sphere traveled with him everywhere, but he’d slipped the phone back into his pocket last night before he fell asleep beside David like he always did.

David. A stab of fear and loss cut through him. Would he ever be able to get back to see him again? He looked at the device, for the first time he was determined to figure out how to use it so that he could go back to where he belonged. He checked the date on his phone: May 14. More than a year earlier then when he’d been with David. 

He kicked off the covers and got out of bed, opening the door of the closet. A selection of blue sweaters, jeans and button-down shirts greeted him. David had teased him about his clothes, but having a selection of nearly identical items made it easier to fit in, no matter where or when he was. 

He got dressed and headed downstairs. He could hear his parents in the kitchen, getting ready for work. 

“Patrick, dear, when did you get in?” his mom asked. “Did you and Rachel have another fight?”

“Hi mom,” he leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. “It was late, I didn’t want to wake you. And I think Rachel and I are done for good this time.”

“Oh, honey…” His parents had always been close to Rachel. It was one of the things that kept him going back to a relationship that wasn’t working. Surely someone who his parents liked so much couldn’t be wrong for him.

“It’s okay, mom. It just isn’t working and I think I need something different.” An image of David flashed through his mind and his breath caught for a moment. His dad noticed, and squeezed his shoulder. 

“Do you want a ride to work?” he dad asked. He glanced out the window, happy to see his car in the driveway. He had forgotten he was going to have to go back to the job he hated. After the bustle of the store, not to mention David’s unique energy, reviewing business loan applications at the local credit union seemed even duller than it had before.

“That’s all right,” he replied to his dad. “I could use some time by myself.” 

He drove into town but before he could get to the bank he found himself pulling into the parking lot of the park on the edge of downtown. He sat for a moment before picking up his phone and calling in sick. 

It had been less than 24 hours, but he missed David so badly that it ached deep inside him. They’d been apart longer than this and yet somehow, not knowing if or when he might see David again made it seem like an eternity. He closed his eyes, picturing David as he’d been that last afternoon, standing behind the counter at the store, a smirk on his lips as they teased each other. 

He pulled out the sphere, unclipping it from his keyring. He’d never been able to understand how it worked. Sometimes when he’d been absentmindedly playing with it he’d been thrown back in time while other times he had purposefully tried to jump without success. Or, on the occasions that it had worked, he’d ended up in a different time or place than he’d intended. Lately he’d mostly tried to handle it as infrequently as possible, not wanting to accidentally end up somewhere else.

He remembered the first real time jump he’d made. It had been during the barbeque for his mom’s family reunion and his aunt had been badgering him about when he was going to ask Rachel to marry him. He’d had a knot in his stomach and all he could think about was how badly he wanted to be somewhere else. The sphere had been in his pocket and he’d been fiddling with it as his aunt chided him about making an honest woman out of Rachel. Without warning he’d found himself in what he now knew was his apartment in Vancouver. He’d been there for six months that time, unable to replicate the jump until the sphere had finally pulled him back to a different time.

Ever since then his life had been out of sequence. The jumps seemed to happen within a three year window, either forward or backward from his current age. After the first year or so, he started keeping a list of dates and times to keep track of possible gaps and events. Most of the time, the entries would tie together, allowing him to piece together his timeline. But occasionally, there would be one or two entries that never joined up with anything else. Like the time he ended up in New York for a month. That had been the worst, he hadn’t known anyone or had any idea where he was supposed to be. Or the times he’d had to work at that car dealership in Windsor. He’d been there two separate times and then just as suddenly, never again. What if that happened with David? It didn’t bear thinking about.

He opened the spreadsheet he kept on his phone to add his most recent jump. It was the farthest into the future that he’d been and there was a big gap between his time with David and the previous entry. He sighed, knowing that unless he could find a way to control it, the sphere would happily jump him back and forth through that time, whether he wanted it to or not.

He held the sphere up, watching the light reflect off of the etched surface. He gave the globe a spin, watching it rotate between the gold bands. All he could think about was David, of waking up next to him in his new apartment, of holding him close and kissing him softly. The pure aching need of it rushed through him, but the device remained unmoved and he stayed where he was, staring through the trees at the lake at the center of the park.

He’d typically been the type of person who worked through lunch, but every day at noon he started leaving the credit union to head for the park. He’d spend the hour thinking about David and trying every way he could think of to activate the device. To be honest, he was spending most of his time thinking about David anyway, to the point where his boss asked if he was still feeling ill. He couldn’t muster up the energy to care. All he wanted was to wake up and find himself back in Schitt’s Creek.

By the end of the week, he’d started to resign himself to the fact that he might be here for awhile. He was on his way home from work on Friday afternoon when he suddenly couldn’t take it anymore. 

For the first time, he was angry. Angry that he was forced to live his life out of order, angry at his grandfather for dying before he could explain his gift and most of all angry that what he had had with David had been taken away before it had even begun. He pulled to the side of the road and grabbed the sphere, desperately spinning all the pieces at once, shaking it angrily. Everything went dark.

***

He opened his eyes. A smile spread across his face. Never in his life had he been so happy to see such ugly wallpaper.

The door burst open. “Patrick!”

“Ray!” he exclaimed happily.

“Patrick, I just heard about the opening of the store this Friday! Can I bring a friend of a friend of a friend or is the guest list just limited to people who are friends of you and David?”

“Um...I’m not sure, I should probably check with David about that.” He tried to orient himself. He knew from last time that he and David hadn’t been together when the store opened. Probably a year before his previous time in Schitt’s Creek, he estimated. But even if they weren’t together yet, at least he would get to see David.

He made his way to the store. Even though it wasn’t quite nine o’clock, David was already there, unpacking boxes and arranging items on the shelves. It felt strange to see the store so disorganized. He’d grown used to David’s precise merchandising and shelves full of product.

“You’re here early,” he said, relieved to finally see David standing in front of him. He desperately wanted to kiss him good morning.

“Mmm,” David replied, “There’s just a lot to do before Friday.” 

He could see the tension in every line of David’s body, tension that hadn’t been there when they’d met before. He ached to hold David in his arms and stroke the stiffness from his shoulders. 

“We’ll get it done,” he said, clapping David on the shoulder as he moved past him. David gave him a funny look, but he didn’t care. He couldn’t be this close to David and not touch him in some way.

They fell into their usual banter. Even though he’d only spent a week in the past, it felt like forever since he’d had this casual, flirty, back-and-forth conversation. It was like pulling on an old sweater and he had to keep reminding himself that their relationship wasn’t where he had left it. At one point, he let things go too far, teasing David about hard and semi-firm openings and they both stopped short, belatedly realizing the inappropriateness of that conversation for a pair of business partners.

He couldn’t deny that David was different. Patrick could tell that he was holding something back and he seemed brittle and insecure. He knew that in this timeline, David had only known him for a few months and that he wasn't one to trust people easily. It just takes time, he kept reminding himself, caught between his impatience to be with David and his worry about running out of time again.

The next few days felt like the longest of his life. He would look up as they were organizing the store to find David looking back at him, dark eyes watching him intently, but David never seemed to want to make a move to take things to the next step. It was like being given dessert without being allowed to eat it. 

He missed the grip of David’s hands on his shoulders, the look in David’s eyes when he woke in the morning, the feel of his shoulder against his when they leaned together against the counter at the store. 

He felt like he was trapped in a maze. He knew the beginning and the end, but he couldn’t figure out how to get from one place to the other. One minute he thought he should make a move and the next he could feel David’s uncertainty pushing him away. He knew he should just let things unfold, but he had never wanted anything this badly and not being able to be with David was slowly driving him insane.

When the store’s opening event finally came to a close, he couldn’t stand it anymore. He held his arms open for a hug, needing David to hold him. As he wrapped his arms around David, he wanted to stay there forever. This was where he belonged.

***

A week had passed since the opening. When David had held him that night, he’d been sure that would be enough to move things forward between them. He’d felt David relax in his arms as his hands stroked his back, he was sure in that moment that David wanted more. And yet, nothing had changed.

Hints about the beginning of his relationship with David weren’t something that he could have extracted from someone like Ray so all he had to go on was an off-the-cuff comment from David about when he’d kissed Patrick on their first date. It wasn’t much of a clue of how things would unfold but he was determined to try to find an opportunity to force the issue.

He finally caught a break on David’s birthday. 

Even to his own ears, the dinner invitation sounded awkward and forced. But it didn’t matter, David had agreed to go to dinner with him. 

It had dawned on him that David simply wouldn’t let himself believe that Patrick was interested in him. Short of pinning him to the back wall of the stock room, he wasn’t sure how to break through David’s self-imposed defenses that were preventing them from moving forward. He finally decided on a gift. It was David’s birthday, after all, so a gift was only appropriate. He had the perfect idea to hopefully break down the last of David’s reservations. 

He smiled as David made a joke about the menus, thinking back to that other evening that had been a few short weeks ago for him, but that was still months in the future for David. When Stevie arrived, he started to wonder if he and David might never get together. Perhaps their time together had been from an alternative timeline, a tease to show him something that might have been. 

He watched David’s face soften and change as he looked at his birthday present. He could feel David’s tension and uncertainty fade away and for a moment it was as though their relationship was as Patrick recalled from before. Dinner at the cafe was as unmemorable he knew it would be, but the chance to relax with David, to talk about the store, to get to know him for the first time that wasn’t actually the first time, he knew it would be a night he remembered for the rest of his life. 

They ordered dessert and when David ordered the chocolate cake, Patrick ordered the apple pie as a joke to himself. When David finished his cake first, he slid the pie halfway across the table, smiling as David enthusiastically took a bite. They finished the pie, he guessed that David had eaten more than half of it, but he didn’t mind.

“Now that you’ve eaten both our desserts, do you want anything else?” he teased fondly. 

David looked like he might be considering it, but he smiled and shook his head. “Thank you for dinner. And for celebrating my birthday when no one else remembered.”

Patrick felt his heart crack a little. David had perfected the art of pushing people away, but he knew that under the sometimes prickly exterior was someone who desperately wanted to be loved. 

“Let me drive you home,” he said.

When David finally leaned over to kiss him, it felt like their first time. Somehow, as badly as he’d wanted it, he’d forgotten the intensity of kissing David, how right and perfect it felt. He could feel David’s hand against the back of his head, his fingers gentle yet firm as they pulled Patrick towards him. As they broke apart, a thousand thoughts went through his mind. He could see David looking at him and he saw the uncertainty sweep across his face. Desperate to chase it away, he looked over at him.

“Thank you,” he said.

“For what?” David replied, the doubt evident in the corners of his mouth. 

For taking a risk, for believing that I wanted this, for finally, finally letting me kiss you again, he wanted to shout. He wanted to cry and laugh and most of all he wanted to kiss David until they were both drowning and desperate. He tried to ground himself in the moment, thinking back to what he would have said when David had unknowingly kissed him for the first time.

His fumbled explanation seemed to take away David’s tension and the uncertainty left his eyes, to be replaced by the fondness that Patrick had longed to see. As he drove away from the motel, he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. He didn’t sleep that night, replaying the sweet simplicity of the kiss, thinking back to their previous time together, feeling excited for what the coming day would bring. This was what the first days of a relationship should be, he thought, full of nervous excitement and happy longing.

The best part was that once again he could touch David whenever he wanted to. He could kiss him hello and brush the small of his back when they passed each other in the store and slide his hands to rest at David’s hips as he stood in front of him. 

But he could tell that David was holding something back. Even when they were alone, there was a line of tension that ran through him that Patrick wasn’t able to chase away. He could feel David’s desire and he knew it would take time, time to build the trust he’d felt in that other time, time to break down David’s insecurities. 

So he suggested they take things slowly. He knew David had been hurt by relationships that moved too quickly, burning themselves out and burning David and he didn’t want this to be like those other experiences for David. He wanted this to be different for both of them. Even though he wanted to wrap himself around David and never let him go, he knew it would be too much too fast. 

If he was honest, it wasn’t just because of David that he wanted to take things slow. He was relishing the experience of exploring a new relationship. He and Rachel had been together for so long that he couldn’t remember what it was like to discover something new about someone, to learn how they liked to be kissed, what made them laugh, where they wanted to be touched. 

Learning these things was a gift and he cherished the chance to discover them with David. At the same time, he was driven by a growing hunger and an urgency that he once again might be running out of time. 

***

His heart sank as he woke in the unfamiliar room. To be ripped away now, after spending the night with David for the first time in this time was almost more than he could bear. A soft snore drew his attention and he looked to see David’s face on the pillow beside him. He shook off the last of his confusion. Now he remembered, they were still at Stevie’s. 

He watched David sleeping beside him. The dark eyes were closed, the sardonic twist of his mouth relaxed. He never thought he would be this lucky. He wanted to freeze this moment, hold it forever.

He thought that David had probably been surprised by how enthusiastic he had been last night. He’d been taken aback at first when Jake had kissed David, his jealousy flaring at the idea that someone would dare to put their hands and lips on David, when David belonged to him. Except he didn’t, not yet. But soon, he thought.

So he’d been enthusiastic. The chance to get his hands on David months after he remembered them being together wasn’t a time he could pretend to go slow.

He cupped the back of David’s head with his hand and kissed him awake, deepening the kiss as he felt David come back to full consciousness. He tipped his forehead against David’s.

“Morning,” he said with a smile. The dark eyes met his.

“Hi. I could get used to waking up like this every morning.”

“Are you saying that you can see us spending every night together?” Patrick teased.

David grimaced and looked away. “I’m just saying that you can kiss me awake whenever you want.”

Patrick laughed. He felt like he’d been waiting forever since the last time he’d woken up with David in his bed. 

He dropped David at the motel, he looked more disheveled than Patrick had ever seen him. He wanted to hold onto the feelings from last night for as long as he could but as he headed back to Ray’s for a quick shower he could feel the inevitable deadline starting to close in on him again. How long would he have before he truly did wake up in a different bed in a different time?

Spending the night together at Stevie’s had freed something between them. Despite the drawbacks, David began to spend the night with Patrick one or two times a week. The moments when he woke with David beside him were filled with relief and a growing sense that what they had together was what he wanted for the rest of his life. 

He drifted off to sleep with David’s head on his shoulder, their legs tangled together. He smiled as he woke and felt the warm body beside him until he opened his eyes and saw the turquoise bedroom and the long red hair on the pillow next to his. He was back in his old apartment with Rachel.


	3. Chapter 3

Thankfully, Rachel was still asleep.

He slipped out of bed and headed for the bathroom, grabbing some clothes on the way and automatically checking his pockets to be sure his phone and the sphere had both made the trip. Inside, he leaned against the vanity, gripping the edge of the counter as he stared at himself in the mirror.

The face looking back at him was white and tense, the joy he’d had with David was gone. He closed his eyes, wanting what wasn’t here. David. 

To be back here after having been so happy with David was like being punched in the gut. He didn’t need to check when he was, but he did anyway. He turned on his phone and immediately saw the photo of David that he’d set for his lock screen. He’d snapped it from across the store when David wasn’t looking as he leaned against the front counter. He quickly swapped out the photo and changed the passcode on his phone for good measure. As he’d suspected, he’d gone back about six months, back to the worst of his times with Rachel.

He sat on the edge of the tub and put his head in his hands. He had to end things with Rachel for once and for all. He owed it to David, to himself. Even if he never saw David again, it was pretty clear now why things had never worked with her.

He hated the way they’d been together. He cared about Rachel and when it was good, they’d been best friends, but when it was bad, which had been happening more and more frequently, even before he’d met David, it had been awful.

And now, there was no way he could even go through the motions anymore. To have what he had with David and then to return to this. It was unthinkable.

“Patrick?” Rachel’s voice called from the bedroom.

He’d been in here awhile. He took a deep breath. “Just a minute.” He hoped she couldn’t hear the tremor in his voice.

He dressed quickly and came out of the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bed. Rachel was sitting up against the headboard. She crossed her arms defensively as he approached.

“Rach...” he cleared his throat, staring at the floor. “I can’t do this anymore. I know I’ve said that before, but this is it for me.” He looked over at her, she was crying soundlessly.

“Look at us,” he said. “This isn’t how it should be. We deserve to be happy. You deserve to be happy.”

“I’m only unhappy because you’re not happy,” she said softly, her voice wavering.

“I know,” he said, sadly. There was a long pause. “The thing is, I don’t think that’s going to change, not if I stay here with you.”

She was crying harder now. “Patrick…”

“I’m sorry, Rach.” He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. She watched as he grabbed a few of his personal items and left the room. In the living room, he grabbed his guitar and looked around the apartment. It was the only thing he wanted, everything else could stay behind. 

He drove around for awhile, not sure where to go next. He knew he should probably go to work, but the thought of going back to the credit union was almost as terrible as being with Rachel had been. He phoned his boss and got his voicemail so he left a message that he wouldn’t be in to work.

He leaned his forehead against the steering wheel and closed his eyes. He missed David. 

His phone buzzed with a text message. He hoped it wasn’t Rachel, already trying to convince him to change his mind. He opened the app to see a message from his mom.

On our way to the airport, see you in two weeks! Don’t forget to water my plants. Love you.

Relief coursed through him, his parents went to Hawaii every March, he could stay at their house while he tried to find a way to get back to David.

The house felt shockingly empty. He realized that what with bouncing between his parent’s house and his apartment with Rachel and now living with Ray that he hadn’t lived truly on his own in years. Not having to fake a conversation with either his parents or Rachel when all he wanted to do was think about David was a subtle relief.

It had been about a week and he still hadn’t found a way to get back to his time with David. He had tried every conceivable combination of spinning and tossing and shaking the sphere without any result. 

In the past, he had simply let the device take him wherever and whenever it wanted. Often after he and Rachel had had a fight, he felt secure in the knowledge that he only had to wait days or weeks until he was pulled backwards or forwards in time to escape the awful, knotted feeling that seemed to be permanently lodged in his stomach. It had been like having an escape hatch from his life, that was there to rescue him when things became unbearable.

For the first time, he wanted to jump to something good instead of away from something bad. If only he had any idea of how to make that happen. 

He lay back on the couch and thought about David as he’d last seen him, his head cushioned on Patrick’s chest, eyes closed, usually perfect hair drifting messily across his forehead. He closed his eyes and slid into sleep.

***

He opened his eyes. The floral wallpaper stared back at him, making him grin broadly. Would he ever get tired of seeing this terrible decor?

He couldn’t wait to see David again, to hold him in his arms and erase the memories of Rachel, but something was different. He looked around the room, David’s face and hair care products were missing from his dresser. Near the door, his bags and guitar case sat waiting for him. 

Where was Ray? There was almost nothing that stopped him from bursting into his room every morning. He should know, he’d tried everything, especially after David had started staying over regularly.

He got out of bed and opened his closet. It was empty.

He looked over at the bag on the floor. This might be his first morning in Schitt’s Creek, he realized. He got dressed and opened the door to find Ray standing in the hall, right outside of his door.

“Patrick! Welcome to my home! And businesses!”

“Ray?”

“Happy to meet you! I’m making breakfast, would you like some?” 

He followed Ray to the kitchen, listening to his familiar chatter. As glad as he was to be back, he was disappointed not be in a time where he and David could be together.

“It’s wonderful that you’re here,” Ray continued, “There are so many projects I can use your help with.”

Digging through Ray’s paperwork was an entirely unique process. All the receipts and invoices from his many businesses were mixed together, in many cases expenses from one business were allocated to a different one. Trying to figure out where one business ended and the other began was almost impossible. In the end, he resorted to spreading everything out on the dining room table. He knew from experience that Ray never used it to eat on anyway.

He was on his third day of sorting through the paperwork when he heard Ray call his name. He came into the main room to find David standing in front of him. His heart skipped a beat.

He could tell David was nervous about his business but he couldn’t stop himself from teasing him, throwing in a few baseball metaphors because he knew David would find them annoying. He couldn’t keep from laughing as David gave the worst description of the store that he’d ever heard. He knew he was getting under David’s skin, but he was so happy to see him again that he couldn’t resist mocking him a little. 

Even though he could have filled out the paperwork that David needed without thinking about it, he wanted to give David an excuse to call him again. He handed over his card and grinned as David scowled at him on his way out the door, even being in the same room made him ridiculously happy. He longed to touch him, to make him laugh. He made a note in his calendar to follow up with David in a couple of days if he hadn’t returned the paperwork.

Ray insisted that Patrick come with him to attend his cousin’s nephew’s birthday party. He could feel his phone vibrating throughout the party but he wanted to be polite, so he didn’t check his messages until they were back at the office.

He opened his phone to discover that he had eleven missed calls and voicemails from David. He put his phone on speaker and listened to the first message.

“Hi David. It’s Patrick.” Hearing David’s voice made his stomach flutter. He saved the first message and listened to the rest, saving each one as he went along, quickly filling out the paperwork along the way. He knew he wouldn’t get a chance to be with David in this time, he would be forced to jump backward again before he overlapped with his and David’s first date. As hard as it had been to be separated from David, being here but not being able to touch him or kiss him was tortuous. He was thinking about how badly he wanted to wrap his arms around David and tuck his face into his neck and hold him for as long as he could when he heard David’s voice behind him.

It was even more difficult this time. Seeing him earlier today had been a pleasant surprise and he’d been glad simply to have David standing in front of him and he’d enjoyed the chance to tease him. But now, it was all he could do not to pull him close, to kiss his lips, to see those dark eyes look into his. When David handed over his incomplete form, all Patrick could think was how badly David needed him, even if he didn’t know it yet.

As he laid in bed that night, he called his voicemail, listening to David’s messages over and over until he fell asleep.

David’s business license finally came in five days later. He’d been holding back on visiting the store, knowing it would seem strange to drop in without a reason. He slipped it into the frame he’d selected and headed for the store, eager to see David again.

He had expected he would find David on his own and he wasn’t prepared to deal with Alexis, especially not clingy, flirty Alexis. Normally he enjoyed Alexis’s company, but trying to fend her off when he wanted David all to himself was testing his patience. He was relieved when Alexis finally got bored of helping and headed out to the cafe to talk to Twyla. At last, he had David alone.

He suddenly felt tongue-tied. 

“You don’t have to stay. If you have other things to do.” David’s face was closed off, Patrick could tell he didn’t think that Patrick had come to the store for him.

“I don’t mind. I’d like to stay.” I want to stay with you, he wanted to say desperately. I want to be wherever you are.

David narrowed his eyes at him, but gave a short, sharp nod before continuing to stick Rose Apothecary labels on the bottles of facial cleanser. Gradually, he began to talk to Patrick about the store, about the type of products he wanted to sell, the vendors he wanted source, the atmosphere he wanted to create.

“I’ve never done this before,” David admitted, quietly. “I want everything to be perfect so I can prove that I can make this a success.”

“You’ll make it a success,” he replied confidently. David gave him a small smile before he headed into the back room for another box. 

“Thank you,” he murmured on his way by, so quickly and quietly that Patrick almost didn’t hear him.

***

After being at the store all day, he’d meant to spend the evening dealing with more of Ray’s paperwork. Instead, he spent the night on his laptop, researching grant opportunities for the store. He finally fell asleep at one in the morning, his laptop open beside him. The next day he finished the last of Ray’s paperwork and set up a system that would hopefully keep him organized in the future. It took most of the day, so he didn’t make it to the store until three o’clock.

It wasn’t a surprise when David accepted his investment offer for the store, but it was a relief nonetheless. His investment in the store was the thing that had brought them together and even though he’d known it from the future, he worried that something might change and things would unfold differently than he thought they would. 

The tension that Patrick had seen in David was still there and he could tell that David didn’t trust him the way that he had the first time he’d met him. Patrick could see the caution in the set of his mouth and the tension around his eyes. He longed to reach out and cup David’s face in his hands, to be able to kiss away the tension from his face.

Instead, he reached out and took the credit card machine out of David’s arms, relishing the tiny shock that ran through him as he brushed against David’s hand.

“Maybe I should be in charge of cash register assembly as well?” he joked.

“It’s basically a giant calculator, so I am definitely okay with that,” David replied.

“Have you thought about an online presence for the store?” Patrick asked.

“Mmm, Alexis has some ideas. I mean, I wouldn’t normally let Alexis be involved with our store, but she practically lives on social media, so…” 

Patrick smiled broadly when David said it was their store. “As long as it doesn’t involve inappropriate bunny cams, I’m fine with it.”

“Did I tell you that story?”

“Yes? Or maybe Alexis did?” He honestly wasn’t sure when David had told him the story of Ted and the bunny cam, but he was suddenly sure that it hadn’t been during this time jump. Fortunately, David seemed happy to accept that Alexis might have shared the story.

They worked together into the evening. He told David about working at Ray’s and organizing the paperwork for his multiple businesses.

“Would you believe he has 23 different businesses?”

“I’ve been to Ray’s, so yes I would,” David replied. Their eyes met and Patrick smiled softly. He didn’t know what David was thinking about, but he was remembering seeing David at Ray’s that first morning. Had it only been a week ago?

He would have stayed at the store all night if David had asked him, but eventually they called it a day. He flipped off the lights, waiting by the door for David to lock up. The only light was from the streetlight outside the cafe. He felt David stop beside him and he had to clench his hands into fists to stop himself from reaching out and placing his hands on David’s hips.

“Thank you.” It was as though the darkness made David feel less exposed, giving him the cover to say what he wouldn’t have said when the lights were on.

“For?”

“For helping...and for believing in the store enough to invest in it.”

“I believe in you, too, David,” he said softly. He wanted to reassure him, knowing how badly David wanted to make the store successful and how uncertain he was about his ability to make that happen. 

David turned away to lock the door behind him. He cleared his throat. “I’ll get some keys for you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, then.”

***  
It was easy to fall into a daily pattern. He worked for Ray in the mornings, doing his best to organize the endless number of accounts and systems that were needed to keep track of Ray’s many businesses. In the afternoon, he headed to the store where he and David worked together, often through the evening. 

Three days later he came into to find David staring in frustration at the government tax website. 

“What’s up?” he asked. Despite his efforts to explain tax regulations to David, he’d never shown much interest.

“The supply company needs a tax number, but I don’t even know where to start.” David’s frustration was evident.

Patrick stepped into the back room and returned with a folder that he handed to David. David looked at him questioningly.

“You told me to deal with the business things, so I did.” 

David gave him a look that no one had ever given him when he’d talked about tax forms, as though Patrick had conjured something miraculous out of thin air. 

He wanted all of David. More than the friendship that’s starting to grow between them. More than David’s trust about the business they now shared. More than the pointed teasing that sometimes crossed a line that most business partners would stay well away from. He wanted all of those things as well, but he wanted everything else, everything they had in a different time.

He knew he was running out of time again when David started talking about the opening for the store. Since he couldn’t revisit the same timeline, he knew it wouldn’t be long until he’d be forced back into the past. He was conflicted about leaving for a time that didn’t include David, but staying here when he was forced to pretend that they were only friends and business partners was killing him. 

The opening was a week away. Every night he went to sleep wondering where he would wake up, torn between wanting to be anywhere David was and knowing he was running out of time.

He woke to see the sun streaming in the window, glinting off of the baseball trophies on the other side of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

His Little League trophies still sat on the shelf in his room. David would tease him, he thought. Or at least he’d tease him after Patrick explained what Little League was.

He stared at the ceiling. He could hear the murmur of his parent’s voices downstairs. He pulled out his phone and looked at the date: May 21. He was back in the same time he’d jumped to right after he’d first come back from Schitt’s Creek.

He was suddenly tired of the secrets. He wanted to tell his parents about David, to tell them that he’d finally found someone who made him happy. But he couldn’t even begin to contemplate how to have that conversation. Did he go with ‘I’ve met someone, but he’s in the future and by the way I’m gay?’ Or maybe ‘I have a boyfriend now, I think you’re going to like him and did you know I can travel through time?’

He wished too that there was a way he could tell David about how he moved through time. He’d never been able to share that secret with anyone, but he wanted to share it with David, he wanted David to know everything about him. But that wasn’t possible either. How would anyone react to the news that their boyfriend knew things about their relationship before they did?

He shook his head and got out of bed. He couldn’t tell David anything, not when he was stuck in the past like this. He got dressed and went downstairs to have breakfast with his parents.

It was easy to fall into the routine of his old life. He got up every morning, had breakfast with his mom and dad, and headed to work at the credit union. On his lunch breaks, he sat in the park, playing with the device or looking at photos of David on his phone. He spent the evenings with his parents, watching movies or reading before going to bed early. He usually fell asleep listening to David’s voice as he replayed the voicemails that were saved to his phone.

He knew his parents thought that he was unhappy about Rachel, but he hadn’t thought about her in weeks. Every spare thought he had was consumed by David and by finding a way to get back to what he was increasingly starting to think of as his correct time.

He got out of bed and started to get ready for work. He stopped. It was Saturday. A wave of despair hit him. He had to get out of the house. He grabbed his hiking boots and a jacket and threw some things into a backpack before running downstairs. His parents were having coffee in the kitchen.

“Morning!” he said. He could hear the false note behind the cheerfulness in his voice, but his parents didn’t seem to notice. “I’m going to Forest Hill Park for the day.” He quickly slapped together a sandwich and threw some snacks and water into the backpack.

“Patrick...it’s seven in the morning…” He could tell his mom was worried.

“I just want to get an early start, I’ll be back for dinner.”

It was a short hike to what was usually one of his favorite spots. On the side of the ridge, several large spruce trees overlooked a small meadow, from there he could look out over the valley. But today, he didn’t care about the view. He sat beneath one of the trees and wrapped his arms around his knees, dropping his head on top of his arms. 

All he could think about was David. David, laughing as Patrick teased him at the store. David, with a half smile on his lips, his dark eyes meeting Patrick’s from the other side of the room. David, in bed beside him, his hands gentle as they moved across Patrick’s stomach, making him shiver. 

It was too much. Without warning, he started to sob, shoulders shaking with the unfairness of finally finding someone who made him happy and being torn away from him.

He pulled the sphere out of his pocket, shaking it angrily, hoping against hope that something would happen. Nothing did. He gave a cry that was part anger, part despair and spun the parts of the device wildly. Everything went black.

***

He lay in bed with his eyes closed. Opening his eyes only to discover that he was anywhere other than Ray’s would be unbearable. He kept them closed, choosing to believe that he was at Ray’s, hoping he wouldn’t be proven wrong.

The door burst open.

“Patrick!”

“Ray.” He opened his eyes and smiled with relief. “Are you making breakfast?”

He was at the store by eight o’clock. He flipped on the lights and did a quick tour of the store. Some new products had been added, he spotted some wool blankets and pottery that he hadn’t seen before. He started to pace. He knew it could be a couple of hours before David arrived at work. He was eager to see him, he could feel the excitement of it humming beneath his skin. But mixed with the excitement was a note of apprehension. What if something had changed that he wasn’t aware of? What if they’d broken up or grown apart? What if David wasn’t as he remembered him?

Normally he would take the time before David arrived at the store to catch up on invoices and other paperwork but he knew he wouldn’t be able to concentrate. He pulled some products out of the stock room and began restocking the products that needed it. 

It felt like the longest two hours of his life. As soon as he saw David approaching the store, he moved towards the door. Relief washed over him when he saw David’s smile at seeing him in the store. When David pecked him on the lips he couldn’t stop himself from wrapping his arms around him and burying his face in David’s shoulder.

He felt David’s arms come up around him. “Are you okay?” he murmured.

“I’m just happy to see you.” Being in David’s arms again felt like quenching a year’s worth of thirst. He didn’t want to let go, but he could tell David was confused by his behavior.

“Mmm ‘kay?” He saw David look around the store. 

“Why did you put out more of those facial scrubs? I thought we’d agreed we were going to send those back?”

“Um...I thought we were talking about the other ones?” he said weakly. 

David gave him a funny look. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

He had to pull himself together. “Coffee?” he suggested. 

He made it through the rest of the day without any further questions from David although he did give him a puzzled look once or twice. He contented himself with being able to touch David’s back or brush against his arm as they worked together at the counter. Luckily for his peace of mind, he’d forgotten how much David loved to touch him. As soon as he was close enough, David’s hands would reach out to squeeze his shoulder or touch his arm. He found himself moving closer to David whenever he could, knowing David would reach for him.

They were closing up for the day when he couldn’t stand it anymore. He was desperate to be with David, to touch him. “Do you have plans tonight?” he asked, trying to be casual. A look of hurt and insecurity flashed across David’s face.

“It’s Wednesday,” David replied. 

There was a long pause as Patrick frantically tried to work out what that might mean. 

“Unless you don’t want me to come over?” David continued. Patrick could see his defenses starting to go up the way they did when he was hurt but didn’t want to admit it.

“I very much want you to come over.” He walked over to stand in front of David. David looked away, his lips pressed together. He ran his hands up David’s arms and placed them on David’s shoulders. David still wasn’t looking at him. 

“Hey,” he said softly. David looked at him quickly before glancing away. “I’m sorry, I’m just distracted today. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” The last part was a lie. Between jumping into this time and the distraction of being back in David’s presence, he knew exactly what was wrong, not that he could say anything. 

He cupped David’s face in his hands and ran his thumbs over David’s cheekbones. “Spend the night with me,” he whispered as he pulled David close and kissed him gently. It was everything he’d wanted. He felt David’s tension start to fade as his lips responded against Patrick’s. He had to stop himself or they weren’t going to make it back to his room at Ray’s. He pulled back and kissed David on the cheek. 

“Let’s go home,” he said.

***

He slipped back into the routine they’d had after they’d spent the night at Stevie’s. They spent most of their time during the day together and David would stay over with him at Ray’s a couple of nights a week. Patrick had calculated that he had jumped about five months ahead of that time and other than the rocky start on his first day back, it seemed like David was more relaxed in their relationship than he had been. It was as though the trust that he had seen the first time he’d met David was finally starting to grow.

The only thing that cast a shadow on his happiness was the growing knowledge that he was keeping a secret from David. David would never believe him, even if he told him, he thought. And even if he did, for someone like David, the insecurity of knowing that Patrick had seen his future would probably be too much for him to bear. 

They were driving to Elmdale to pick up some handmade baskets for the store when Mariah Carey came on the radio. As usual, David reached over to turn up the volume. 

“The only person I’ve ever loved,” he sighed happily. 

Patrick waited until the song was over so he could turn down the volume. “Really?” he asked.

“Really, what?”

“Is Mariah Carey really the only person you’ve ever loved?”

“Are you fishing for compliments...or something?” Tension was starting appear in David’s voice.

“C’mon, David. You know that’s not something I’d do. I’m just curious.” He reached out to stroke David’s leg, hoping to calm him.

“Fine.” David stared out the window, hiding his face from Patrick. “I may have yelled ‘I love you’ to her at a concert one time. So she’s the only person I’ve said that to. Other than my parents, that is.” There was a long pause. 

Patrick glanced over, he could see that David’s eyes were fixed out the window of the car. 

“And I’ve only said it to them twice,” David’s voice was very quiet. 

The little crack that Patrick sometimes felt in his heart when David revealed something that he thought was particularly sad grew a little bit wider. For a moment he was angry at Mr and Mrs Rose for letting David grow up the way that he had. He squeezed David’s leg, he wanted to tell him that he loved him, but he was pretty sure it wouldn’t be well received. After a minute, he felt David’s hand grip his.

He couldn’t stop thinking about David’s confession. He’d been in love with David almost from the moment he’d laid eyes on him. He wondered if it would it have been harder to love him if he hadn’t jumped to a point in time where they were already in the midst of their relationship. But he didn’t think so, he was sure that he would have loved David no matter when he’d first met him.

It was probably inevitable that David was being completely ridiculous just before Patrick told him he loved him. To be fair, David was ridiculous a lot of the time, that was why he said it, in the moment. If he loved David like this, when he was acting like a box of dog sweaters was the end of the world then he knew he would love him in any other situation that might come up. But he knew that David, who had just told him a few days ago that Mariah Carey was the only person he had ever said I love you to, probably wouldn’t say it back to him. He didn’t care, the freedom of being able to say the words out loud outcounted any possible risk. 

He remembered how easily David had talked about their relationship on the ropes course on the first day he’d met him. He knew David was capable of telling him that he loved him, he just needed to be patient. 

In the end, David surprised him. He could see what it cost David to say the words back to him. It made it mean that much more when he saw how deeply it affected David. At the same time, he could feel David’s anxiety increasing, could see the blend of love and distress rising, so he mocked him gently about the tea, laughing as David made his escape to the cafe.

Eventually, David returned with his tea. It was cold. 

“Do you want to try again to make this moment perfect, or should I just pretend that I wanted iced tea?” he teased.

David scowled at him. “It’s not my fault that the cafe is full of lonely singles and it took Twyla 15 minutes to bring my order.”

He slid his hands under the edge of David’s sweater, running his fingers along the waist of his pants. David gasped as his cold fingers touched the small of his back. He kissed the spot beneath David’s ear.

“Come home with me tonight.” He heard David hum in agreement, his hand came up to the back of Patrick’s neck, his nails gently scratching at the back of Patrick’s head as he leaned to kiss him.

As he fell asleep, Patrick thought that he would be happy if he could fall asleep in David’s arms for the rest of his life.

***

He awoke the same way he usually did, disoriented and confused. But this time the confusion was laced with panic. He had to get back to David.

He sat up and looked around. The studio apartment was familiar, simply furnished with pieces from IKEA. He pushed back the grey comforter and swung his legs around so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. Vancouver, he thought with a groan, putting his head in his hands.

He looked at the date on his phone: June 22. Eighteen months earlier than when he’d last been with David. Eighteen months and a completely different city from the moment when David had told him that he loved him.

He pulled the sphere out of his pocket. He tried shaking and spinning it like he had when he’d jumped back to Schitt’s Creek, but nothing happened.

He didn’t know what it meant that he’d been thrown so far back in time and to a place that was so much further away than his other recent jumps, but he suspected it wasn’t good. The last time he’d been here, he’d been stuck for six months, the idea that he might be stranded so far away from David for so long was heart-wrenching.

One of the few things he’d liked about Vancouver was the ability to walk to work. His apartment was downtown and it was a short walk to the office on the waterfront. As he walked he thought about David and how he was going to get back to Schitt’s Creek. He had a bad feeling that unless he could make the sphere work for him, that he might be in this timeline for awhile. 

He had to figure out how it worked.

He got to his office and opened up the company’s invoicing program and pulled a stack of invoices across his desk. Satisfied that it looked like he was working, he opened a spreadsheet and began to make a list of all the times he could remember triggering the sphere. He filled in the column headings: date, time, location, weather, action, state of mind.

The trouble with blacking out immediately after a successful jump was that it tended to impact his memory of what had happened. In the end, he was only able to identify two other jumps in addition to the three recent ones he’d made back to Schitt’s Creek where he could fill out all of the columns of his spreadsheet.

Time and weather didn’t seem to make any difference. Shaking or spinning the device seemed to have an impact, but he’d tried that this morning and it hadn’t worked. He needed more data.

He fell into a routine. Every night after work he’d go back to his apartment and try to test as many variables for the device as he could. He hadn’t been outside or done anything for fun since he’d arrived. The weight of his desperation to get back to David bore down on him. He was both paralyzed by and obsessed with finding a way back to David. Nothing else mattered.

After a week he was so frustrated he could barely stand to look at the sphere. He missed David terribly, he had listened to David’s voicemails so many times that he had them memorized. He knew if he wasn’t going to give up all hope, that he needed to spend some time doing something other than experimenting with the sphere and relistening to David’s messages. He looked at his guitar case that was leaning against the wall.

The guitar didn’t travel through time with him, but it was the one thing he consistently brought with him when he moved, so it was usually waiting for him when he arrived in a new place. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d played. Rachel had liked to have him play for her and as their relationship had gotten worse and worse, he’d wanted to play less and less. He’d brought his guitar to Schitt’s Creek, but he’d never played for David, mostly because he suspected that David was more likely to be embarrassed than charmed. Hopefully he would have an opportunity to embarrass David with his guitar in the future, he thought.

He tuned the guitar and let his hands wander over the strings, playing a few scales and practice songs. As he picked out the familiar notes, his thoughts wandered back to David. He remembered the song that David had sung along to on the radio the last time they were driving. It was one of the few songs that David loved that Patrick actually knew. He picked out a few notes, the thought of playing it one day for David passed through his mind. He sighed and flipped the guitar around so he could put it back into its case. 

The weeks dragged by. His life was made up of the sphere, David, and his guitar combined with spending the necessary time at work. Walking to work was probably the only saving grace, it got him outside and gave him a bit of exercise. Otherwise, he hated everything about his life.

It had been three months. He’d gone down to the water out of desperation and to see if getting out of his apartment would make any difference to the sphere. He’d walked along the rocks, away from the few other people who were braving the chilly fall weather. Suddenly, his rage and frustration broke through his despair. Picking up a baseball sized rock he hurled it as far as he could into the crashing waves before shaking the sphere and cursing at it.

He blacked out.

He opened his eyes. He was still in his Vancouver apartment. He sighed with disappointment and reached to check his phone, his eyes widening as he looked at the date. It was a month later than it had been.

Over the next few months he was able to make several more small jumps forward and backward through time. He’d learned that the stronger the emotion he felt when triggering the device, the more likely it was to work and he knew that making the parts of the sphere move was also important. But something still wasn’t right, he couldn’t use it consistently and he was still stuck in Vancouver.

At his lowest moments, he wondered if this was it. Perhaps all of the other timelines were wrong and this was where he was meant to be. Or maybe he’d broken the other timeline and now he was stuck here, halfway across the country from where and when he wanted to be.

He’d been in Vancouver for nine months now. He was sitting on the couch, playing with the sphere and thinking about how much he loved David and missed him. He could picture David at the store, rearranging the items on the counter so that they were precisely lined up. He could see the twist of his month and hear his voice as they teased each other. Thinking he should go to bed, he gave the device a final spin.

He woke up to see the sunlight hitting Ray’s floral wallpaper.


	5. Chapter 5

He threw the bedroom door open to find Ray standing on the other side, reaching for the doorknob.

“Ray!” he exclaimed. 

“Patrick?” Ray sounded confused.

“No time for breakfast! I have to get to the store!”

He checked his phone, it was about four months before his previous time in Schitt’s Creek, when David had told him he loved him. As he neared the store, he realized that he should have had breakfast after all. After nine months in Vancouver, he had been so eager to see David that he hadn’t been able to think about sitting still long enough to eat pancakes with Ray. But he knew that David wouldn’t be at work for another hour or so and his nervous energy was making him even hungrier. It was only eight o’clock, so he decided to stop by the cafe before going to the store. 

As he came into the cafe he saw that David was seated by himself in his usual booth. The cafe was mostly empty, Twyla was busy with a table of customers near the door. He headed for David’s table.

Before David could say anything, he bent down and placed his hand at the back of David’s head, tilting his head up to kiss him thoroughly. He let his lips linger for an extra second, running his thumb along the line of David’s jaw before pulling back to look into David’s eyes, glancing down at his lips again before he moved to the opposite side of the booth.

“Good morning,” he said, unable to hide a grin. “Can I join you?”

David had a surprised look on his face. Eventually, he responded. “I’m not sure, some guy who looks like my boyfriend just kissed me very inappropriately in a public place.”

“Hmm, you should tell random guys to stop kissing you, your boyfriend might not like it.” He couldn’t stop grinning.

“Stop that,” David demanded.

“Stop what?” he replied, smiling even more broadly.

“Stop smiling at me like a demented penguin. It’s too early.”

“Speaking of which, why are you here before eight o’clock?” he asked.

David looked annoyed. “You told me I had to be at the store early.”

“David, I tell you that every morning, it’s not like you listen.”

“It’s just...I know the store’s been slow lately and I’m not sure what to do about it, so I thought maybe we should try and figure that out and maybe getting there early would help.”

“Okay.” He did have a few ideas to increase traffic at the store, but he wasn’t sure David was going to like them. They finished their breakfast in silence. Patrick let David steal his bacon, too happy to be with him again to complain.

David was right, the store was slow. In his original projections for their business plan, he’d expected that the initial novelty would wear off and that there would be a lull in sales. If they were to grow their profits back to a sustainable level, they would need to find some ways to increase the number of customers coming into the store.

He knew that David would be resistant to an event as pedestrian as an Open Mic Night. In the end, he simply went ahead and picked up a permit from Ronnie, assuming that David would complain but wouldn’t actually stop him from hosting the evening. He thought about the song he’d been working on in Vancouver. He’d worked on the arrangement almost every night while he was there, he knew it was one of David’s favorites and he wanted to share it with him. 

The store was packed. He was happy to see a number of new faces in the crowd, mixed with the locals. Sales were strong and combined with the money from the door and the drinks, it was shaping up to be a profitable night. As the time to start the performances grew closer he could see the tension and secondhand embarrassment that was clearly visible on David’s face and in the line of his body. Patrick was confident in his ability to make this special for David, as long as his boyfriend didn’t close himself off and get lost in his discomfort.

As he took the stage, he could see David fighting to keep his insecurity in check. As he sang, he could see David’s face softening, his eyes meeting his across the room. He hoped that meant that his performance had had the intended effect, but introducing the performers and chatting with the customers kept him busy for the rest of the night.

As the last few people trickled out of the store, he watched David take extra care to remove the Open Mic Night poster from the front window of the store. From the corner of his eye, he saw David tuck the poster away carefully beneath the front counter. At last he knew where the framed poster that David would give him had come from. He waited until David had stepped back from the counter before he slipped up behind him and slid his arms around David’s shoulders, gently kissing the back of his neck. 

David turned in his arms, resting his hands behind Patrick’s neck. Patrick could tell he was struggling to know what to say so he leaned over to kiss him instead. 

“You’re the best,” he said, teasingly.

David grimaced and rolled his eyes. “At least I’m not the sappiest,” he replied, but he was smiling as he kissed him back. 

***

He closed his eyes. All he could see was the hurt look on David’s face as he talked about being damaged goods. Nothing else mattered, he had to try to go back in time to fix things so that David never had to have that look on his face.

He pulled out the sphere, spinning all three parts. He knew exactly when he wanted to go back to, back to before Rachel had come to town, before he’d watched David’s heart break. He let the fear and grief fill him until the world went dark.

He didn’t want to open his eyes. He knew he had traveled somewhere, but what if he’d gone to a different place, or if he’d gone back too far and he couldn’t fix things for David. Slowly, he opened his eyes and reached for his phone.

For a moment he couldn’t believe it. He had actually been able to control the device well enough to get it to send him where he wanted to go. He was clearly at Ray’s and the date on his phone was two months before everything had gone badly at the barbeque.

He had never tried to change his timeline before, not even when things were at their worst with Rachel. He didn’t even know if he could change things, he just knew that he had to try. 

If he could stop Rachel from coming to town, he could take the time to be sure that he and David had a conversation about their past relationships. In all honesty, he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the details about David’s past, but having seen what would happen if they didn’t have that talk, he’d rather hear about it than not. He sent Rachel a text warning her not to try to visit him.

_Undelivered._

He tried again. Same result.

He didn’t particularly want to call her, but it seemed he had no other option. He punched in her number, only to get a busy signal. 

Well, if he couldn’t stop Rachel, he could at least talk to David before she arrived. He set out for the store, his thoughts churning. 

When he arrived, the store was dark and quiet. He checked the time, it was after ten o’clock. He headed for the cafe, thinking that David had maybe gone for coffee. There was no sign of David, but Twyla was behind the counter, she looked distressed and she was reading something on her phone.

“Patrick. You must be so upset,” she sounded surprised. “Shouldn’t you be with David?”

For a moment he lost track of the timeline. Had one of the Roses told Twyla about the barbeque? Then he remembered that the barbeque hadn’t happened yet.

“Upset about what?” he asked “And have you seen David?”

“Upset that Mrs Rose passed away.” She showed him the story on her phone. 

He stared at her in horror. Had his attempt to change things killed Mrs Rose? He scrolled through the story but there weren’t any details, it was mostly a collection of quotes from actors and reality stars about how legendary Mrs Rose had been. His stomach, which had already been in knots, somehow got even worse. He felt sick. 

“I have to go.”

He went into the store, not even bothering to turn on the lights. He frantically called David’s number, praying he would pick up.

“Patrick? What’s wrong?”

The call dropped.

There was a bright flash and without warning he was at the cafe, slow dancing with David in his arms. He swayed in David’s arms, a feeling of contentment washed through him. Maybe he could stay here forever, he thought.

Everything flashed again and he was at Jocelyn’s baby shower watching David try to find a place for an extraordinarily ugly baby-shaped pinata.

Now he was in full costume and make-up, performing in Cabaret. He looked for David, but couldn’t see beyond the lights into the audience.

He was watching David at the store as he waved plunger in the air at himself and Stevie.

David at the store, preening as a group of teens complimented him.

David, wearing pajamas, being kissed by Ted.

David, sitting in his lap and kissing him.

David, decorating a Christmas tree.

David.

He blacked out.

***

He woke up feeling even worse than usual. His head felt like someone had spent the night jackhammering inside it, possibly with a brass band for an accompaniment. 

With a groan, he opened his eyes. He was at Ray’s. He hoped that was a good sign. He checked the date on his phone, it was the day after the barbeque. 

His phone buzzed with a text from David.

_I won’t be in today. Can you cover the store?_

Seconds later the door burst open.

“Patrick!”

“Ray. I think I’m going to need some aspirin before breakfast,” he whispered, hoping it would encourage Ray to lower the volume of his voice.

“Oh I understand how these family events can sometimes be more than we can handle! Take your time, I’m making pancakes!” He watched with relief as Ray closed the door behind him.

He closed his eyes again, trying to think past the pounding inside his skull. From David’s text, it was easy to discern that his attempt to change things had failed. David was still hurt, and deservedly so. Had he struggled so hard to get back to David, only to mess things up on his own? 

He went through the motions of getting dressed. He managed to find a bottle of aspirin on the dresser, swallowing a couple of pills. He made it to the bedroom door before he remembered the other thing that had happened. Was Mrs Rose actually dead?

By the time he made it to the store, the pain in his head had subsided to a dull ache. Listlessly, he walked through what he needed to do to open for the day before sinking onto the couch in the back room. He thought about the snippets of the different timelines that he’d been pulled in and out of the day before. He hoped they weren’t possible futures that now weren’t going to happen because he’d tried to change things. He put his head in his hands, suddenly afraid that he’d broken his timeline.

At least he was here in the same time as David. The only worse possible outcome would have been for him to have been catapulted to some other time and place, not knowing if he’d ever see David again. Of course, it was likely that being here meant that he’d be subjected to the exquisite torture of being near David but never again be able to touch him, to feel his lips on David’s, to hear him laugh as he teased him, to feel David’s arms around him. 

The next few days were agonizing. He learned that Mrs Rose was not dead, which was a relief, but he had yet to see or talk to David. In desperation, he began to send gifts, hoping to get David’s attention. 

He finally had to admit to himself that it was probably over. He would wait until David came to the store so that he could end things. After that, he would use the device to go somewhere else. If he couldn’t make it work, he could at least wait until it forced him through time again. It was a strategy he’d used before with Rachel, waiting for time to run out. Of course, he usually ended up having to revisit those times again, but at least it would be a brief respite. 

***

Working in the store with David hovering beside him was even harder than he thought it would be. He just wanted some space, but David hadn’t left his side since Patrick had told him what he assumed David already knew, that it was over between them. He couldn’t wait for the day to be over so that he could go back to Ray’s to see if he could jump to a different time. He was trying to decide whether he’d rather be with Rachel in a previous time when he didn’t love her or with David in this one when David didn’t love him when David’s hand brushed his for the third time.

As he finally listened to what David had probably been trying to tell him all morning, he wasn’t sure what to feel. He was relieved and frustrated and, he had to admit, completely and utterly in love with David. If Rachel had tried to pull something like David had, he would have stormed out, but with David, all he wanted to do was laugh.

He should have known, he thought. He did know. He knew that David was ridiculous and selfish and vain and that he loved to be pampered. He’d been so wrapped up in his own fear and worry that he’d overlooked David’s need for self-indulgence. As much as he wanted to wrap his arms around him, he’d strung him along for the rest of the day, needing to make sure he didn’t let David get away with taking advantage of him. Mostly though, he just felt relieved. 

He could feel David watching him for most of the afternoon and he had to stop himself from looking back at him. He knew that if their eyes met, he wouldn’t be able to contain the smile that kept twitching at the corners of his mouth and he wasn’t quite ready to give into David just yet. He wanted to give David a taste of fear that he had felt, and he wanted David to feel a little guilty for only thinking of himself.

He watched David slide to his knees in front of him and he couldn’t help but raise his hands in the air, laughing as David joined him. Thank god he hadn’t jumped to a different time where he would have missed out on this. He reached forward and grasped David’s face, unconsciously mirroring they way he had held him earlier in the day. He pulled David towards him, desperate to kiss him. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered fiercely against David’s lips. “I should have told you about Rachel, I shouldn’t have risked what we have just because I didn’t want to deal with things.”

David tipped his forehead against Patrick’s. He was shaking his head frantically. 

Patrick leaned forward to kiss him again. “Come back to Ray’s with me.”

David stopped shaking his head and began to nod instead, smiling furiously.

David had fallen asleep beside him. He rolled over on his side so that he could watch David sleep. He had to find a way to stop jumping between different times. The only time he wanted to be in was right here. He fell asleep with a smile on his face. 

***

He opened his eyes, happy to see the familiar wallpaper. With a smile, he turned towards David. The other side of the bed was empty. Fear gripped him. Had David had second thoughts? Had he left in the night while Patrick was sleeping? He fumbled for his phone and checked the date. He’d gone back in time seven months.

He didn’t want to do this anymore. His ability to control the device was better than it had been, but he just wanted to live one life with David.

He headed to the store, but it was dark and quiet. He opened the door and went inside, but there was no sign of David. It was clear that the store’s grand opening hadn’t happened yet. Half empty boxes and unlabelled products were scattered across the display tables. He thought about getting to work, but knew David would have particular thoughts about where things should go. 

He locked the door and headed to the cafe. He sat at one of the tables by the door and waited for Twyla.

Mrs Rose was seated at one of the other tables talking with a scruffy looking man with a camera. He was good looking but Patrick was instantly repulsed by the predatory look in his eyes. He seemed to be trying to convince Mrs Rose to participate in some sort of photo shoot. 

He hadn’t noticed Alexis, but as soon as the photographer left, she had seated herself at the table with her mother.

“I can’t believe you are going to let Sebastian photograph you after what he did to David.” She emphasized her statement by stabbing at the table with her finger.

“Oh Alexis, I’m sure that’s ancient history. I doubt David has any feelings for Sebastian.”

“Just because you don’t have feelings for someone doesn’t mean they can’t hurt you.”

He’d heard enough. And he’d lost his appetite. He’d heard David make derisive comments about his past relationships but this Sebastian made his skin crawl.

He left the cafe and leaned against one of the chairs on the patio. 

“I didn’t think a washed up town like this would have anyone worth photographing.”

The voice came from behind him. It was trying to be alluring, but to Patrick’s ears it sounded sleazy and self-satisfied. He turned to find the photographer pointing his camera at him.

“If you take my picture, I’ll break your camera,” he said in an even voice. 

The photographer sneered at him, but he lowered the camera and headed back into the cafe.

He knew now why David hadn’t wanted to have a conversation about their past relationships. From the things that David had said, he suspected that Sebastian Raine was the tip of the iceberg when it came to David’s past. It broke Patrick’s heart to think that David had ever looked at Patrick and assumed that he was like every other bad thing that had come before. 

Suddenly, he was exhausted. All he wanted was to fall asleep in David’s arms without having worry about ending up in some other time. 

He pulled the sphere out of his pocket. He thought of David as he’d been last night, smiling happily in Patrick’s arms. He let himself sink into the emotion he felt for David and gave the sphere a spin. Nothing happened. He tried again, spinning the rings in the opposite direction. Darkness overtook him.


	6. Chapter 6

As he woke and looked around, he was gripped by a moment of panic. He wasn’t at Ray’s. He’d been so confident that he’d finally figured out how to use the device, but now here he was, in a strange bedroom. 

He looked around frantically before his gaze landed on the framed photo of himself and David on the desk. 

His apartment. He hadn’t been back here since the very first time he visited Schitt’s Creek. There was a noise from the kitchen. He propped himself up on one elbow to see David coming towards the bedroom, carrying two cups of coffee.

“Oh, you’re finally awake.” David set the cups on the nightstand and leaned down to kiss him. 

“It’s a good thing, because we don’t want to be late for work,” David continued, with a glint in his eye. “Opening the store on time is important for maintaining our customer base.”

Patrick couldn’t get over how relaxed David looked. He was still unquestionably David, but the tension he’d carried with him in all of the other times was gone. His dark eyes met Patrick’s easily and a smile teased the corners of his lips. David noticed that he was staring.

“What? I just got out of bed, I know what my hair looks like.”

“I love you, David.” Being able to say it felt amazing. 

“I love you, too.” The words brought a faint blush to David’s cheeks. “Now get out of bed, someone told me we had to get to work early today.”

“And why would someone tell you that?”

“Because Mrs Thompson’s husband is dropping off her latest order, and apparently farmers can only do things before the crack of dawn.”

“And you listened to me when I said that, instead of just making me go by myself?”

David huffed at him, but he was smiling.

At the store, the day started out normally enough. Alexis was supposedly helping with their website and he listened to the two of them snipe at each other as he helped some customers. He was a bit flattered when Ken gave him his phone number, but he was mostly happy to have a chance to tease David. Until David suggested that he should go out with Ken, that is. 

He was confused and a bit scared. Had he broken the timeline somehow? Was this something that they did now? Was David dating other people as well? He wasn’t interested in any of that. He’d been so happy to wake up and find David in his apartment, but now it seemed as though things weren’t at all as he’d expected. 

The incident with Rachel at the barbeque was fresh in his mind. Maybe David was trying to make a point by making him go out with someone else? It seemed unlikely, even though for him the barbeque had only happened a couple of weeks ago, for David, the barbeque would have been months earlier. 

He thought about his encounter with Sebastian Raine. Meeting him had made Patrick realize how ugly some of David’s past relationships had been. Maybe David was addicted to that toxicity and wanted to poison their relationship? The only thing he was clear on was that he really didn’t want to date Ken and yet that seemed to be happening anyway.

He could feel David watching him throughout the afternoon, but every time he’d look to him, David would look away. They were both tense now, the relaxed atmosphere from this morning had evaporated.

He got home from work and called Ken to cancel. But now he didn’t know what to do about David. He went for a walk, aimlessly wandering around his neighbourhood until dark. 

He had to see David. He drove the motel and knocked on the door. Even in the midst of his own distress, he couldn’t miss the look of relief that flashed across David’s face when he said he hadn’t gone to dinner with Ken. Whatever had happened today, it seemed that David hadn’t been prepared for it either.

“Let’s not do this again,” he mumbled into David’s shoulder. He felt David nod in response.

“How many times do I have to tell you that you’re the only one I want?” he asked. “Because if you give me a number, I can work with that.”

David laughed, but his eyes were still bright. “Is every day too often?” he asked.

***

He tugged on the brim of David’s ball cap. “I do think you look very cute,” he said in a low voice, kissing a spot in front of his ear, before moving to nibble on his earlobe.

“Ugh, I’m gross and dirty. I was on the ground.” David looked horrified at the thought. “And there was running.”

“I can’t believe people do that for fun. I can’t believe you do that for fun. At least there was a barbeque. Is there always a barbeque?”

He put his hand behind David’s head so that he could pull David towards him. “Stop talking, David.”

Eventually, he let David take a shower. He emerged from the bathroom in his usual black t-shirt and sweatpants and looked at the uniform in distaste.

“I should burn these,” he grumbled.

“At least keep the hat,” Patrick said suggestively.

David tried to look annoyed, but Patrick could see the grin fighting the corners of his mouth. He laid back on the bed as David gathered up his uniform and tossed it in the hamper, setting the hat to one side. He was fully relaxed, his mind drifting when he heard David from across the room.

“Hey, what’s this thing?”

He looked up to see David holding up the sphere that he’d pulled from the pocket of Patrick’s discarded baseball uniform.

“Don’t touch that!” He was too late. He watched as David gave the device a spin and disappeared before his eyes.

He leapt out of bed. He knew there was nothing he could do. David had the sphere and even if he hadn’t he wouldn’t have known how to try to chase David back through time. He began to pace around the apartment, thoughts racing. He hoped that wherever and whenever David had gone that it would be similar to his own first experience, a short jump of a couple of hours. But what if David had gone back further? It didn’t bear thinking about.

He alternated between pacing and sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. The last few months had been gloriously happy. To have David suddenly disappear from this time just as he’d been able to finally control the device was the ultimate irony, as if the universe was mocking him. In the past he’d been a bit conflicted about the device, knowing he could count on it to step away from Rachel when things got bad. But all that had changed. If he got David and the sphere back, he knew that had to find a way to disable it for once and for all.

It was almost ten o’clock when he finally heard footsteps in hall. The door flew open and David came into the apartment.

“What the fuck just happened!?”

He couldn’t answer right away. He flung himself across the apartment and wrapped his arms around David. He felt David hold him equally tightly and they stayed like that for what seemed like an eternity.

“I don’t suppose we can pretend that this didn’t happen?”

“You want me to pretend that I didn’t just travel through time? Because of a thing that my boyfriend carries around in his pocket?” David gingerly pulled the sphere from his pocket and dropped it into Patrick’s hand. He tucked it carefully into his own pocket.

He sighed. “Okay, but we should probably sit down for this.” On the couch, he was secretly relieved when David reached out to pull him closer, as though he needed to touch Patrick as badly as Patrick wanted to touch him.

“It started on my 25th birthday,” he began. He told David the whole story. About his grandfather, about jumping through time, about his inability to control where and when he went. He could feel David rubbing his back as he talked and he leaned into his touch.

When he finished David was quiet for a long time. “I have some questions,” he said finally.

“So the first time we met,” he backtracked. “The first time I came to Ray’s, you’d met me already?”

“The first time I met you was the day we did the ropes course with Ted and Alexis.” 

David looked horrified. “But I was awful that day. Why didn’t you just break up with me and, I don’t know, move to Toronto or something?”

“Because by the end of the day, I was completely in love with you,” he said quietly. “I’d never felt anything like that before, I couldn’t get enough of you.”

“Oh.” David was blushing. “No wonder you were so mean to me when I came to Ray’s!”

“Was I mean to you? I did your paperwork. I dropped off your framed business license, in person. I even invested in your business,” Patrick teased him.

“You were mean. You teased me and you made jokes about baseball that you knew I wouldn’t understand.” 

Patrick leaned over to kiss him. He couldn’t not kiss him right now. He felt David’s fingers on the back of his neck, their kiss was filled with relief and a hint of desperation. He had wanted to tell David about the device and what it did, but he hadn’t been sure how David would react. Having David know about the time travel lifted a weight from his shoulders. Relief coursed through him, as David kissed him more deeply. 

After a moment, David asked, “So, do you know the future? Have you seen us years from now?”

“No, this is the farthest into the future I’ve been. Actually, there are still some parts of the past that I don’t know either. Until the day you tried to make me date Ken…”

“It wasn’t supposed to be a date!” David interrupted.

“...I hadn’t been in this apartment since just after I moved in.” 

“Well, maybe it’s for the best, there’s a few things that I’d like to forget.” 

He bumped his shoulder against David’s. “Maybe you could tell me about them sometime.”

“So what happens now? Are you going to get pulled back in time again?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Probably.” He laid his head on David’s shoulder, David wrapped his arms around him. “I really don’t want to do this anymore,” he whispered. “What if there’s a time when I can’t make it back to you?”

“Shhh,” David held him even more tightly. They sat together for a long time, he felt safe in David’s arms, but he couldn’t shake the fear that he was living on borrowed time. For the first time, he started to wonder what would happen if he tried to destroy the device. Would he even be able to damage it or would he get tossed back in time somewhere?

“Did you ever try to change things?”

He shuddered, remembering his failed attempt to change what had happened with Rachel. “Just once. When I thought I’d lost you. It didn’t go well.” He told David the story and how he thought he’d killed Mrs Rose. 

“You know that was real, right? The internet really did think my mom was dead for awhile.”

Patrick laughed shakily. He thought about the other moments that he’d jumped in and out of when he’d tried to change his past. One in particular stood out. “Did you kiss Ted?” he asked.

“He kissed me!” David said defensively. Patrick looked at him inquisitively.

David laughed a bit awkwardly, “It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that you don’t remember. Or weren’t there. Or whatever. It was stupid. But you were so jealous.” David reached out and gently ran his thumb along Patrick’s cheek. 

He thought about the moments that were missing from his life and the time he’d been forced to live instead. Nine months of misery in Vancouver wasn’t any kind of trade off for losing any of his time with David. Would he ever get those times back or would there always be holes in his memory?

He leaned into the feel of David’s hand on his cheek, determined to simply enjoy the moments that they did have together.


	7. Chapter 7

Being able to share his secret with David was a huge relief. Even though nothing had changed, simply being able to talk about it made him feel more hopeful. David was also able to help fill in some of the gaps that he had missed in his timeline, something that he very much appreciated, but which in no way made up for not having been there.

He fell into the everyday cadence of his life. He went to the store and rehearsals for Cabaret. He was finally able to tell his parents about David, although not about the time travel. But with every day that passed normally, he felt like he was living on borrowed time. He could tell that David felt it too. Every night, David wrapped his arms around him before they fell asleep. He wanted to tell him that it wouldn’t make any difference, but the truth was that it made them both feel better. 

They spent every spare moment together. When they were required to be apart, he could see the panic in the back of David’s eyes that was mirrored in his own. He was scared that if he let David out of his sight, he would be pulled back in time without ever seeing him again. Fear of that possibility wrapped around his heart every time they were separated. 

He desperately wanted to find a way to disable the device. He’d tried to shatter it with a hammer, but even though it was made of gold, the hammer rebounded so violently that he nearly lost an eye. On a whim, he’d put it in the oven on high for half an hour, but when he went to take it out, it was barely warm.

If nothing else, he thought that he’d finally figured out how to make it work. It needed strong emotions to work properly, but he was fairly certain now that if he spun the rings around the globe, clockwise to move forward in time, counterclockwise to move backwards and thought about where and when he wanted to go, that the device would work. He felt more confident than he ever had that if he was forced to jump that he’d be able to get back. But that didn’t change the fact that he didn’t want to jump at all.

If he couldn’t destroy it, maybe he could dissemble it instead. He spent several days trying to pry the rings apart from the globe. All the parts moved independently and it looked as though it should just come apart, but no matter what he tried, it remained as it was.

David was late getting back from a buying trip one night and Patrick was playing with the little hook that came out of the top of the globe. He pulled up on the hook, there was some resistance, but the hook moved freely when he turned it. He heard a small click from within the device, the globe had split neatly in two and rings were finally detached.

Could it really be that simple? 

Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by a flood of memories. 

He and David and Stevie were drinking wine at the store, teasing David about his inability to compromise and laughing as David first admitted and then denied having called Patrick his boyfriend.

He cringed seeing David perform an awkwardly bad Christmas duet with Mrs Rose. Alexis sat beside him, revelling in his discomfort. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments of his life and yet he couldn’t take his eyes off of David.

He watched as a drunken Ted kissed David and felt his jealousy rise until it had obscured everything else. But mixed with the jealousy was...curiosity about what it would be like to kiss another man. Suddenly, David’s insistence that he date Ken made a bit more sense. 

He felt the love of the Rose family as he helped David patch together the worst looking Christmas tree he’d ever seen so that they could give Mr Rose the Christmas he’d always wanted. 

As all the missing parts of his life slid into place, it was almost too much. At the center of everything, part of every missing memory from the past two years, was David. He pressed his fingers to his eyes, trying to process the deluge of memories and information as his head swam.

His hands were shaking. He clenched them together and sat on the edge of the sofa, staring at the gold pieces that were strewn across the coffee table. A headache was beginning to pound in his temples as waves of emotion rolled through him. Relief at finally putting this ordeal behind him, joy at the thought of spending the rest of his life with David and a tiny twinge of irrational fear that he had given up the ability to escape if he needed it. And wound through everything was the love he felt for David.

He didn’t know how long he stayed in that position, on the edge of the couch, one hand clutching the other, but eventually he heard David’s key in the lock.

“You would not believe…” David’s voice trailed away and Patrick heard him approach and sit quietly on the sofa beside him. “Are you okay?” David asked gently.

David’s question set free everything inside of him. With a sound that was half a sob, half a whimper, he threw himself into David’s arms, sobbing against his shoulder. 

“Shhh, Patrick, honey,” David’s arms came around him, one hand cradling the back of his head as the other gently stroked his back. He finally cried himself out. He never again had to worry that this would be the last time he’d feel David’s arms around him.

“Do you want to talk to me?” David pressed a kiss to his temple.

He sat up and nodded towards the pieces on the table. “I…” his voice cracked a little and he cleared his throat. “I remember everything. All the times I missed, they’ve come back. I think it’s over.” 

David reached over and gently wiped away the last few tears from his cheeks. 

“So you’re stuck here with me, then?” David’s tone was light, but he could hear the deeper question behind it. 

“I’m not having regrets, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He kissed David tenderly, trying to put everything he was feeling into the kiss. “It’s like I’ve been set free,” he finished softly.

David’s smile chased away all the other emotions he’d been feeling, leaving behind the love they shared. He had no doubts that this was where he was meant to be.

The next morning, when David was still sleeping, he put the two halves of the globe into the top drawer of his dresser and slipped the two gold bands into his pocket. He was finally going to be able to do something he’d wanted to do for months.

***

David opened the black velvet box for the second time. The sunlight struck the set of custom gold rings, making them sparkle.

“You never answered my question,” David said.

“Which question was that?” He wanted to lie here forever with David in his arms and never have to think about time travel or anything else ever again.

“About the rings. Are they 24 carat?”

“I should throw you off this mountain right now.” He leaned over to kiss his fiance one more time. “Besides, you know what they’re made from. If you think about it, you’ll know. And, I had them engraved so that we’ll never forget how lucky we are.”

He held the rings up to the light so that David could read the inscription as he slid each one on to his fiance’s fingers.

_Together forever, through time._


End file.
